What do you think is better when making a low ball offer in MLS?

1) Go somewhat reasonable on offer then adjust later during inspection period?

2) Go low right out of the gate?

You don't want to mislead people because then they are less likely to negotiate with you because they will think that you've "tricked" them.  Best policy is probably to offer your best estimate and then if things that were actually unknown to you come up negotiate from there.

@Aaron K. That's how I was leaning but the thought popped into my head and I was wondering other people's thought were.  Thanks!

I went low to get in contract, but not offensive on my current one... then Hammered them at the inspect.. thinking they would split it.. they took it.  I was shocked.

Talk to your agent and offer them something they will look at.  get it in contract.  Then you can take your 10 days and come back at them.  worst case it falls out.  but who cares.  Having it in escrow is a powerful emotional thing for desperate buyers.  many will pay anything to keep a deal alive.

@Felipe Munoz I only make offers at the price at which I intend to close. That said, if major issues are found during the inspection it’s not like I can’t back out or adjust. But if my agent tells me “the roof is shot” I adjust the offer rather than waiting for an inspector to confirm it and adjusting at that point. That said, I know a lot of people here do it the opposite way but where I invest is a pretty small ecosystem. If I did a bunch of “get under contract then reduce offer post-inspection” deals I’m 75% sure it would get around.

@Carson Wilcox

Great insight regarding the psychology of getting a property under contract with a motivated seller.

Something similar happened to me, pretty much by luck.  The inspector found the roof to be shot and I ended up getting about $15K at closing.  Turned an OK deal (first deal) into a good one.

The inspection certainly can be a great tool to use to negotiate a better deal.

I feel like except for most home owners... they get offended if you just send them the "I want to make a boat load of $" offer.  But if you offer low... then come back with a lower one and something even plausible to back it up....  they respond a lot less emotionally.  When my pest inspection (only one I paid for) came back with termites isolated in one tiny spot, and leaking shower P traps, I was ecstatic.  He was confused.

Well that depends. How long has the property been on the market? Has it had any price reductions? Has it been under contract before? If it's first weekend on the market the seller is less likley to take a lower offer. If It's been in over your average days on market for that price point with no price change and hasn't been under contract then it's been exposed to the buyers of that marker and they have said nope we don't like it. That will give you a lot more room to negotiate. I feel the get it under contract and beat up the sellers is the wrong approach and leaves a bad taste in people's mouths.